There would have been less fist pumping than there was relief in the Wallabies’ changing room at Subiaco Oval on Saturday night. But never has a win against Argentina been more crucial than this one. It was crucial for the confidence of the players, for their sense of self and sanity, and that of their coach and the rugby public. Sometimes, in fact, a win is the only thing that matters, and the Wallabies 14-13 effort over the Pumas was one of those occasions.

There was a lot of talk this week about dumbing down the Wallabies’ style of play. Sometimes dumbing down is the smartest thing to do. In the blustery and wet conditions on Saturday it probably delivered the Wallabies their one-point victory. Rugby matches as spectacles, like all sport, vary along a spectrum from high and handsome through to the less beautiful. This game was a bit toady. But even toads can be beautiful, even if only to another toad. And so, some aspects of this game would only be appreciated by those rugby aficionados, schooled in the intricacies and detail of the contest.

It was certainly not the game to bring rugby to the masses, but it was nonetheless a victory to celebrate and there is beauty in that, even if not the beauty that coach Ewen McKenzie has forecast delivering in his time as Wallaby mentor.

But, as many of us celebrate each day, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So dumb does not have to equate to boring just as speed and running does not always equate to beauty. Does a mother not think their child is beautiful, no matter what? There was beauty in this win but perhaps it was in the form of an aesthetic that only a mother could love. McKenzie, as the architect of this victory, would have appreciated its inherent beauty, no matter how latent it may have been.

Some of the beauty was in the way the Wallabies stuck to their guns and executed the “shitters” time and again, if not perfectly, at least doggedly. For if they didn’t, they would have lost. The shitters, as described by debutante run-on halfback Nic White during the week, are those inglorious jobs that must be done in all matches. They may never be celebrated but they must be executed, especially in the close contests.

Less than spectacular

Victories over the Pumas, and indeed by the Pumas, are rarely proposed in any list of must-watch rugby matches. Part of the reason for this is their approach to the game, for in the first instance they are unashamed spoilers. Their primary intent is to stop you playing your game the way you want to play it. They aim to disrupt your rhythm, your game-plan and subsequently your confidence. Then they feast off your mistakes.

Contrast this to the All Blacks, whose intent is rather to play their pattern, despite whatever obstacle you put in front of them.

In many ways watching Argentina break through their adolescence as a professional rugby nation is exciting for world rugby and while you instinctively yearn for them to get their breakthrough Rugby Championship victory, you just hope that it’s not against your team – which it nearly was.

Upward trajectory

Despite their wipe-out to South Africa in their opener, the Pumas’ form to date is a bellwether for international rugby. For Argentina as a rugby nation have more often been a challenger and rarely the challenged. And while this trend seems to be an ongoing one, on the current trajectory, it will not continue. That is what international expansion is about. We’ve seen it now with Italy as they enjoy a more competitive status in the game. Argentina has been the slowest of the major rugby nations to embrace professionalism, with their local competitions largely amateur. But with an improving position in the Rugby Championship, and a mooted entry into Super Rugby, consistency will grow and their increasing joy could become Australia’s, and others’, headache.

In the meantime, the Wallabies’ challenge for the remainder of this year will not get any easier. This is no controlled Petri dish, where McKenzie can isolate variables in his pursuit of a specific style of play and a successful team culture. Rather, this is a live experiment made more difficult as the opposition attempt to break you at every opportunity to set you back. Their remaining eight Test matches are all abroad and none of them routine or guaranteed victories. Come the end of November, the Wallabies will undoubtedly have been beaten and battered, but hopefully also a bit brighter for the experience.